The unnervingly playful film Good Boy opens gently as we are given a glimpse into Christian and his dog Frank’s day to day life in Christian’s rather grand Norwegian house. Christian is setting up a date on Tinder while Frank happily plays with his dog toys in the living room. There’s just one thing. Frank is clearly a man in a furry, slightly creepy, dog suit.
Little wonder then that Sigrid, the young woman that Christian has been chatting to via the dating app, is a tad unnerved when she first meets Frank, making a speedy exit before Christian can explain what the woof is going on. But, educated by her friend about alternative subcultures and charmed by the handsome young man, Ingrid is drawn into Christian and Frank’s life. Only for a disturbing truth to be revealed that changes everything.
The latest film from Norwegian filmmakers Viljar Bøe (writer and director) and Karl Oskar Åsli (producer) sets out its stall in an interesting way: this could be a quirky romcom in the vein of girl meets boy (and man dog) and there are some interesting questions about identity and the right to self-define that will have the “anti-wokers” mumbling into their Horlicks. But worry not Daily Mail readers, a half-time turnabout throws all those questions quickly aside.
From then on, it’s a more disturbing, and slightly more obvious, horror flick that emerges. The tension builds well over the 70 plus minute runtime but leads to a finale that alas falls foul of some of the usual horror tropes, such as someone returning to the scene of danger when they should be legging it in the opposite direction. But with some great performances, particularly from the leads Gard Løkke and Katrine Lovise Øpstad Fredrikse, all in all this is a chilling film that’s worth sniffing out.
Good Boy premiered at FrightFest on 28 August is available on digital platforms from 11 September
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